


Flicker

by StariNights



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: A little angst, AU, F/F, Fluff, GO WATCH THE SHORT FILM. WILL LINK, Gay, Getting Together, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Mostly Fluff, Promise, SO GAY, Stars, Suicidal Thoughts, They all are tbh, based on a shot film, davey is adorable, its set in the 80s but u cant really tell, mostly in the beginning, not to bad, this is really just fluff, very little dialog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-26
Packaged: 2019-12-18 11:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18249335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StariNights/pseuds/StariNights
Summary: //Eventually, the boy skidded to a halt. Cupping is hands around his mouth he looked to be shouting something, but no sound came out. Race slowed to a stop beside him, glancing at him then the empty clearing in front of them.Or, well, it was empty just a second ago. Now four other kids, about his age actually, stood watching him curiously.//





	Flicker

Race hated waiting, but he hated what he was about to do even more. So he sat on a log and stared up at the trees, pretending to be enjoying the scenery instead of thinking about what he was about to do next.

 

Tears flooded his eyes as he continued thinking. What would his mom think? His dad’s been gone for years, so he obviously doesn't give a shit, but that also means he was about to leave his mom all alone. Well, he supposes it’s better to have a dead son than a fairy one. That’s what society tells him, isn’t it?  At least she can mourn him as though she really loved him instead of disown him when she finally figures out the truth.

 

The pills clattered in his pocket as he shifted to scrub the tears from his eyes. A new wave of nausea rolled over him. 

 

He was really doing this, wasn’t he?

 

Well, it was now or never.

 

Just as he was uncapping the bottle of miscellaneous pills, he looked up to see a boy staring at him. Race almost jumped out of his skin. 

 

The boy was short and muscular with a dark caramel skin. His most striking features were the dozens of sunspots that littered his face and exposed arms. Race was so startled to see this honestly beautiful boy at the most inopportune time he almost didn’t notice that he could see the waving leaves straight through the boy’s broad chest. 

 

Almost. 

  
He opened his mouth to ask why he was here, who was he, anything! But for the first time in his life, Antonio “Racetrack” Higgins was speechless. The boy turned to walk away, and Race watched him go. He turned back to look at Race with an unimpressed look before nodding his head for Race to follow him. 

 

Race pointed at himself as if to say ‘who, me?’ and the boy rolled his eyes and nodded as if it was obvious. Well, it was but hey! Give Race a break, he wasn’t exactly in the best frame of mind. He came out here to die and now a cute ghost boy is asking him to follow him through the woods.

 

Race scrambled to a stand, leaving the pills behind to roll off the log. He took long strides until he was walking in time with the other boy’s shorter ones. He turned to look at him, opening his mouth to ask him his name, but the mystery boy held up a finger to silence him before he could even start speaking.

 

Then he broke out into a grin, and Race took notice of the small gap between his teeth. He poked his tongue out at Race before breaking into a run, turning for a moment to beckon Race to follow him and Race couldn’t help it. He laughed and chased after the mystery boy. 

 

They leapt over logs and carefully hopped across the river from one stone to another. Half way across, the boy cupped his hands in the water and dumped it over Race’s head. Race shouted indignantly before returning the favor and then they were running again. 

 

Race couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled so much. His cheeks were starting to hurt but, with the wind on his face and the air pumping through his lungs, he couldn’t bring himself to care. This was the most free he’d felt in a long time. 

 

Eventually, the boy skidded to a halt. Cupping is hands around his mouth he looked to be shouting something, but no sound came out. Race slowed to a stop beside him, glancing at him then the empty clearing in front of them.

 

Or, well, it was empty just a second ago. Now four other kids, about his age actually, stood watching him curiously.

 

There was a tall lanky boy with raven hair looking over another, slightly shorter boy’s brown hair. Two girls stood grinning at Spot, hand in hand. The taller of the two looked like the raven haired boy, and Race wondered if they were related. The redheaded girl looked to say something to sun-spotted boy, but again no sound came out. The boy nodded and turned to Race, holding out his hand. 

 

Race eyed it, confused. He reached out slowly, but the moment his hand made contact, he started to turn transparent as well. He jerked his hand back and stared at it with a mixture of fear and wonder before looking back up to the the boy. He looked Race in the eye and mouthed something, very deliberately.

 

_ Trust me _

 

Race took a deep breath and nodded, gripping his hand and interlacing their fingers. In a moment his entire body went see through, but now he heard cheers from the other teens.

 

The boy tugged him towards the others, who had started to sit down in a circle. The brown-haired boy grinned and clapped Race on the shoulder as he sat down beside him, welcoming him and introducing him to the rest of them.

 

The first one was Jack. Self proclaimed artist and romance expert. The entire circle rolled their eyes at that claim, and Race snickered behind his hand as Jack gasped in mock offence.

 

Davey, the tallest one, was shy, but apparently could talk for hours without stopping for a breath if you let him. He looked only mildly annoyed as Jack basically wrapped himself around him. Apparently this was a common occurrence

 

The taller girl was Sarah, Davey’s twin, apparently. Honestly, Race shouldn’t be 

surprised, they really did look alike. From their shared height to the shape of their nose. She was honestly really cool, the type of girl his mom would point out in the store for him to introduce himself too. Though, from the look she was giving Katherine, the redhead, she didn’t really seem like she would interested.

 

And last, but certainly not least, mystery boy, who’s hand was still interlaced with Race’s.. 

 

_Spot_

 

Jack rolled his eyes, sticking his tongue out at him.

 

_ Don't mind him, he’s too brooding for his own good _

 

Race laughed as Spot launched a pebble at Jack. The former ducked behind Davey and the pebble hit him in the shoulder instead. Race laughed harder as Davey threw a rock back at Spot, the shorter boy catching it easily and throwing it back at Jack. 

 

They all sat around and talked for a while, so long in fact that it started to get dark. Race yawned as he slumped against Spot’s shoulder. Jack looked up at Davey and grinned.

 

_ Tell us about the stars, baby _

 

Davey laughed softly, stretching back in the soft grass as fireflies landed on his nose. 

 

_ The ancients believed that the gods put them up there for people who had died, but had done extraordinary things _

 

_ Tell ‘em about our star _

 

_ Jack _

 

_Please?_

  
Davey chuckled softly again at the puppy dog eyes Jack was giving him. One glance around the circle told him that everyone was looking at him with the same expression. Even Race, who had no idea what to expect, looked at him with eyes shining.

 

_ Oh alright. You win. Our stars are those ones right there. The ones all clumped together. Jack got his by his art. Beautiful paintings that could take you to another world, forget about all life's problems. They touched the gods immortal souls, and they decided his art should live on forever through those stars. Sarah got hers with her loyalty. Never once have I known her to leave a friend behind. The gods were impressed by her strong willed determination and her compassion for everyone around her. Katherine got her through her words. She wrote straight into the gods heart, words twisting and winding into beautiful tales that could move you to tears.Spot got his through his strength. Well, not so much his strength, but his bravery. See he’s the one who brought us all here, keeps us safe even if the monster is too much for even him to handle. The gods admired his heart and gave him a star to commemorate him for it. I got mine through storytelling, the gods needed someone to tell their tales, someone to tell of heros, old and new. _

 

_ And we’re all up there together, because we’re a family, and not even the gods could bring us apart _

 

Jack grinned as if Davey himself hung the stars. The taller boy went red as everyone stared at him. Race found himself staring at the stars, and Spot nudged his shoulder.

 

_ Stick around and you’ll get one too _

 

Race smiled at him and shrugged, burying his face in his neck and yawning. Everything was quiet, save for the night bugs and Sarah and Katherine’s quiet conversation. Race was starting to doze off in the warmth of Spots arms. Everything was calm and quiet, and he was content.

 

Suddenly, shouts cut through the soft lull in conversation. Davey shot straight up, grabbing Jack’s hand like a life line before jumping to his feet and pulling him into the darkness. Sarah followed right after him, Katherine in tow. 

 

Spot was to his feet in an instant, looking back at Race with conflicted brown eyes. They had separated in the confusion and now Race couldn’t hear him again. He was speaking but Race couldn’t hear a word he said. He was holding out his hand, almost desperately. Race only caught three words.

 

_ Come with me _

 

He looked around him, only to see the others had disappeared again. Now he and Spot were alone the the clearing once more. The shouts were getting closer and spot held out his hand desperately, silently asking Race to take it. He squeezed his eyes shut for a beat before grabbing Spot’s hand one last time. The two boys flickered once.

 

                                                                Twice.

 

                                                                                  A third time...

 

                                                   ✩  ✩

                                                                                                                                     ✩ ✩

 

                           ✩ ✩ ✩

 

         ✩ ✩

  
  


_ BREAKING NEWS _

_ Antonio Higgins still missing three weeks into search. Surrounding woods where he was last scene combed through and turned up no new leads. Officials ruled it a cold case, unlikely to ever be solved. _

 

_ Updates will be broadcasted when released _

**Author's Note:**

> AHHHHH I'M BAAAACK! okay this was really fun and cute. I'm p proud of it. So! As I said in the tags, this is loosely based off of a short film by the same name! It's gay too!!!
> 
> link! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIi_c4nALd4
> 
> Anywhosies, as always you can find me @allthenewsiesaregay-bitch at that one hell site! come yell at me or request things or just hang out!!!


End file.
